John10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
See Jacob by the well (Genesis 29:2)? where did he come from? Escaping his brother’s death threats he crossed the desert alone. On his way out of the Promised Land, on his way to Diaspora, Jacob received a vision. The vision reassures our lone traveler of the constant presence, even in Diaspora, of the One who creates all things (Genesis 28). Though it may have looked like a great defeat for the cause of God, Jacob now realizes that there is a greater and divine purpose in his flight to Laban’s in ‘Babylon’.
Jacob arrives at the well, at the very place where his own mother Rebecca, destined to become the great matriarch, watered Eliezer’s camels. As Rachel arrives, Jacob’s heart is filled with love, a love which gives him supernatural strength to roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water Rachel’s flocks (Genesis 29:10). While being a favor returned, this story also sends a messianic echo through time, an echo which resounds until this day.
Jacob is the messianic foreshadow. The seed of Messiah lies in him and as a teacher acting out a lesson or principle, Jacob’s life teaches us of the great messianic mission of our Master.
Like Jacob, our Master escaped a death threat, a death threat that took Him out of Israel to look for a bride in Diaspora. The chosen one is a distant relative, one not all that unfamiliar with the Master’s own customs, but still one who comes from an idolatrous household. When Jacob sees her He waters her flocks. What a beautiful picture of our Messiah who, while rejected by the main leaders of Israel (a corrupt minority, as the common folks accepted Him gladly), takes His own body of Jewish disciples into Diaspora to water the flocks, the flocks made up of the other sheep which are not from ‘this fold’ (John 10:16). From this messianic water, from this foreshadow of the waters of the feast of Tabernacles, the whole nation of Israel would be born.
Rachel birthed Joseph. Joseph, who was called ‘Savior’ by the Egyptians, married an Egyptian princess. In order to save his own people, God lifted Rachel’s son to a position where he was able not only to save his own family, but the world alongside with it. Jacob/Israel also birthed a Savior: Yeshua HaMashiach. As He poured His redeeming oil upon His people Israel, this oil overflowed on the world of the gentiles.
This is not the end of the story. God’s blessings withdrew from Egypt as they started to persecute God’s children. May the world take notice today; because as they withdraw their hands and hearts from blessing the seed of Israel, they also incur a curse upon themselves, a curse that will destroy them with the same plagues that destroyed Egypt. Sad to say, it seems to be an unavoidable destiny, and John saw it in the revelation Yeshua gave him on the Isle of Patmos.
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
See Jacob by the well (Genesis 29:2)? where did he come from? Escaping his brother’s death threats he crossed the desert alone. On his way out of the Promised Land, on his way to Diaspora, Jacob received a vision. The vision reassures our lone traveler of the constant presence, even in Diaspora, of the One who creates all things (Genesis 28). Though it may have looked like a great defeat for the cause of God, Jacob now realizes that there is a greater and divine purpose in his flight to Laban’s in ‘Babylon’.
Jacob arrives at the well, at the very place where his own mother Rebecca, destined to become the great matriarch, watered Eliezer’s camels. As Rachel arrives, Jacob’s heart is filled with love, a love which gives him supernatural strength to roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water Rachel’s flocks (Genesis 29:10). While being a favor returned, this story also sends a messianic echo through time, an echo which resounds until this day.
Jacob is the messianic foreshadow. The seed of Messiah lies in him and as a teacher acting out a lesson or principle, Jacob’s life teaches us of the great messianic mission of our Master.
Like Jacob, our Master escaped a death threat, a death threat that took Him out of Israel to look for a bride in Diaspora. The chosen one is a distant relative, one not all that unfamiliar with the Master’s own customs, but still one who comes from an idolatrous household. When Jacob sees her He waters her flocks. What a beautiful picture of our Messiah who, while rejected by the main leaders of Israel (a corrupt minority, as the common folks accepted Him gladly), takes His own body of Jewish disciples into Diaspora to water the flocks, the flocks made up of the other sheep which are not from ‘this fold’ (John 10:16). From this messianic water, from this foreshadow of the waters of the feast of Tabernacles, the whole nation of Israel would be born.
Rachel birthed Joseph. Joseph, who was called ‘Savior’ by the Egyptians, married an Egyptian princess. In order to save his own people, God lifted Rachel’s son to a position where he was able not only to save his own family, but the world alongside with it. Jacob/Israel also birthed a Savior: Yeshua HaMashiach. As He poured His redeeming oil upon His people Israel, this oil overflowed on the world of the gentiles.
This is not the end of the story. God’s blessings withdrew from Egypt as they started to persecute God’s children. May the world take notice today; because as they withdraw their hands and hearts from blessing the seed of Israel, they also incur a curse upon themselves, a curse that will destroy them with the same plagues that destroyed Egypt. Sad to say, it seems to be an unavoidable destiny, and John saw it in the revelation Yeshua gave him on the Isle of Patmos.
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